Improvement in machines for sawing shingles and other lumber



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANKLIN MUZZY, QFBANGIOR, -MAINE mrRolw-:MENTIN MACHINES Foa sAwlNc sHiNGLEs vAND OTHER Lun/1era.

Specification formingpart of Letters Patent No. 35,832, dated July 8, 1862.

afb-all whom it 12mg/ concern:

Beit known lthat I, FRANKLIN MUZZY, of Bangpr, in the county of-lenobscot and State of Maine, have invented a new andiisefnl Improvement in Machines for Sawing Shingles and other Lumberrand I do herebydeelare the following to be afnll and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accoml panying drawings, making part of this speciy iieation, in which- Figure I is a top view of my improved machine. Fig. II is Va front elevation of the same.

Fig.' III is a side elevation of the same. Figs.

-of acarriage fed downward by connection with the power which operates the saw in a direo tion so nearly perpendicular as to present the center ofthe shingle-block to the upper half of the saw, as will be hereinafter more fully explained, second, in an improved device for changing the motion of the carriage; third, in an improved device for setting the block; fourth, in an automatic device for regulating the feed motion of the carriage to correspond with the width of the block.

To enable others skilled in the art to fully understand and use my invention, I will proeeed to describe its construction and operation.

A A A are various parts of the main frame of the machine.

Bis a circular saw secured to a shaft, G,

which is rotated by a pulley, D. The said shaft is also provided lwith pulleys E E', of unequal diameter, either of which carries a band, F, which passes around a pulley, G or G', upon a square shaft, H.

I is a pinion journaled loosely on the yshaft H, but caused to rotate therewith, when desired, by means of a sliding clutch, J, which is thrown in and'out by ahorizontal lever, K,

fulernmed at K', and operated by a hand-le Wer, L. The pinion I meshes with a gearfwheel, M', upon a shaft, M, which, by means "of bevelgears P', communicates motion to a shaft, P, earryinga pinion, p, near one end.

The end of the shaft P, which carries the pin` ion p, runs in a bearing, pf, which is made adjustable i'n order to throw the said pinion in or out of gear with a rack, r, upon aea'rriage, 7, in which the shingle-block is secured. The bearing p of the shaft P is in the upper end ofa standard,f, pivoted at f", and having a rigid arm, f2, projecting horizontally from it. A weight, c, is hung at the outer end of the armfi, the tendency of which is to draw the pinion away from the rack. This tendency is overcome by a heavier weight,l g, depending from the outer end of a knee or pressure-cani, a, which is pivoted concentricall y with the standard f, and bears against the upper end thereof, so as to press the pinion toward the rack. The pinion is held firmly in gear with the rack while the gate is descendnghy means ci' a latcli,d,catching under apin oriiotch upon the standard, and automatically withdrawn by means of a trip-lever, 5, as hereinafter more fully explained, when the gate has descended as far as needful. l

As the carriage 7 approachcsthe downward termination of its stroke, a pin, b, projecting therefrom, presses against the inclined or curved edge of the pressure-cam a, so as to remove it from thc'standard f, when the said pressnreeam is caught by a latch, c, and the weight e thereby permitted to draw the pinion p away from the rack ofthe instant the latch d is tripped.

W is aweight attached to acord, fw, ruiming over pulleys and attached to Athe carriage se as to elevate it when thus released.

The above devices for throwing the pinion p in and out of gear are more clearly represented by the fragmentary sections, Figs. IV and VII, which show the parts upon a largex scale. v

7* 7* are ways securely framed upon th( top of the carriage 7.

N is a headbloek sliding upon the ways P and provided with jaws O O, of any suitabh construction, for securing the block or bolt l represents the block.

N N are ears projecting horizontally fron the headblock N. l

h It' are racks pivoted to the cars N.

S is a set-shaft journaled transversely acres; the carriage and carrying toothed wheelsS Fig. IIIvhieh take into the raokshhf.

S2 is av ratchetwheelsecured to the shaft S near one end. i

i is a lever fulcru'med upon the said shaft immediately in front of the ratchetwheel S2 and carrying a spring-pawl, ,'Qwhich takesinto the said ratchet-wheel.

m is a stud which the rear end of' the lever i strikes in descending, so as to impart rotaltion to the set-shaft S.

K isa cam which the forward end of the lever subsequently strikes in order to retract the lever and canse the pawl i to engage with another tooth of the ratchet-Wheel.

The wheels Sare formed each with one half as many teeth as the ratchet-wheel Si, andare so placed upon the shaft that their teeth will act successively upon the racks It h,-moving the latter alternately to the distance of lone y tooth each time.

tarespring-catches, (oneshownin'Fig. IIL) taking'into'the racks hhto hold them stationary when not required to move, but retracted therefrom by either wheel S'whieh may be in position to move the rack.

The setting devices will be more clearly understood by reference to Fig. where theyA are shown in elevation Ona larger scale.

2 is a lever attached to a shaft, 3, which is journaled in the carriage 7. l.

10 is a crank-arm projecting from the opposite side`of the shaft 3.

ing; but as the carriage approaches the extremity of its upward stroke a fixed cam or stud, 6, depresscs the lower end of the lever 5 and thereby elevates the lever 2 clear of the block '1.

8 8 are stops or buffers limiting the upward motion of the carriage.

R is a stud projecting downward from the head-block and carrying forward a horizontal slide, R', to which is attached a hook, R2. The office of the said hook is to catch the lever 5 when the head-block reaches its forward position and the shingle-block is exhausted. The lever 5 is thus prevented from tripping the latch d, and consequently the carriage will continue to descend until caught by a hook, It, whiclnholds it until a new block has been supplied. i

U is a shaft provided with a hand-leveigl",I and cams U2, which, when the lever U is diepressed, withdraw the spring-catches t and hold them out of the racks h h', so that the head-block may be moved back for the in-V sertionof a fresh shingle-block.

It is a lever employed to operate the hook R2 by hand at 'any othervtime -when it is desired to hold the gage-leverZ, so that the carbe there held.

Figui represents the head-block retracted ready to receive a shingle-block. Figs. Il and and the block in position ready for sawing.'

The operation is as follows: The carriage is moved down by the pinion p and rack r feeding the blockto the saw.I The pin bfby pressing against the pressurecam a, retracts it only by the latch d. The gage-lever 2resting on the shingle-block, holds the trip-lever 5 vat such height as that it will strike the latch d as soon as the saw has passed completely through the block. 'The instant the latch is tripped by the lever 5, so as to release the standard f, the weight e draws the pinion p' away from the rack r, and the 'carriage being thus vrethe carriage reaches the upper termination of leases the pressure-Cain a, and the pinion is weight g. The carriage then 'descends again, and the rear end of the set-lever i, striking the stud, rotates the shaft S the distance of one tooth, which, acting upon one of the racks h or h', moves forward that end of the headblock N, forwarding the shingleblock obat one end and thin at the other; Afterpassing the stud m,the set-l`ever is retracted by the cani k, so as' to be ready for the next stroke, which forwards the other end ofthe head-block,

. of the shingle being taken from alternate ends.

Each rack, when not in motion, is firmly held by the springcatches t, and each of the latter is retracted, as its rack has to move, by a tooth of the wheel S, the parts being so arranged that the tooth preceding that vwhich acts upon the rack will withdraw. the catch, while the wheel which turns without moving the rack does not act upon the catch.

so that the carriage moves onlyso far as is and power is thus avoided. When the headblock, the slide R advances so far that its hook R2 catches the gage-lever 2 andpreventsit fallto its lowest point,where it is caught and held by the hook R3 to permit the attendant to insert a'new shingle-block. For this purpose he retracts the catches t by means of the lever U, as before explained, and moves the'carriage back to the proper position. The new shingleblock being inserted, the operator unhitches the hook R, when the carriage runsv up, and the work proceeds as before. To enable the workman to stop the carriage when down, in

riage may descend toits lowest position and III show the carriage at its highest position from the standard f, and it is so held by the latch c; The pinion p is then heldin gearv leased is drawn up by the weight W. Vhen its stroke, the pin b lifts the latch c, which reagain thrown in gear by the action of lthe liquely, so that the severed piece willv be thick I while that last moved remains stationaryf The block is thus worked up evenly, the' butt By the combination of levers 2 and 5 the dis tance to which the carriage descends is made y to depend always upon the widthv of the bolt,

needful to sever the shingle, and loss of time block moves forward for the last shingle in the ing, thus causing the carriage, to feed downA order to turn the bolt, or for any other purpose, the hook R2 may be operated by hand by means of the lever R, so as to catch the gagelever 2 in the same'way as it is caught automatically when the bolt is worked up.

It will be observed that the perpendicular descent of the carriagecauses the saw to strike the center of the bolt and cut as nearly as possible with the grain of the wood. The machine operates with great rapidity, with little power, produces shingles of superior quality, and with the greatest possible'economy of lumber.

Instead of the balance-weights upon the latches c and d,small springs may be employed, and springs may also be substituted for the weights e and g, or either of them, these being equivalent devices 'which do VV not affect the principle ofthe invention. The carriage may, if preferred, be elevated by cog-gearing instead of by the weight W.

When the machine is used for sawing box and other boards with parallel sides, the wheels S are provided with the same number of teeth as the ratchet-wheel S2, and so placed upon the shaft that their teeth will act simultaneously upon the racks hh.

Having thus described my invention, the following is what I claim therein as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent as an ini- `provement in circularsaw shingle-machines:

l. Reversing the reciprocating vertical action of the carriage for feeding the bolt to the saw automatically by the operation of the mechanism or its equivalent connected with the vibrating shaft P, substantially as described.

2. The combination of the latches c d, pressure-cam a, and pivoted standard f, operated by either weights 0r springs to throw the pinion p in and out of gear, substantially in the manner explained.

3. rllhe combination of the lever i, pawl i', and wheels S' and S2, actuated by suitable 'studs or cams, m 7c, so as to move the racks h, h forward alternately or simultaneously, as eX- plained, in connection with a shingle-machine carri-age moving in a direction so nearly perpendicular as to present the center of the shingie-block to the upper half of the saw, substantially as set forth.

4. Thegagelever2andtrip-lever5,en1ployed, in combination with the latch d, to regulate the motion of a-shingle-machine carriage moving so nearly perpendicular as to present the center of the shingle-block to the upper half of the saw, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination of the stud R, slide R,

vand hooks R2 R3, operating in the described connection with the head-block N and triplever 5 to arrest the motion of the carriage when the bolt is worked up.

FRANKLIN MUZZY. 

